The Philippines is home to a large number of indigenous groups. Through the years, succeeding waves of migration and colonization have pushed them into the interior highlands of the islands where physical isolation helped them retain their customs and traditions. However, improving access to roads, mainstream education, and media is changing their culture as the younger generations slowly assimilate into mainstream culture.
Still from “Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh” | Photo Credit: Phil Caller/Vice News
According to Action Aid, there are about 200,000 female sex workers in Bangladesh–one of the few largely Islamic countries where prostitution is legal and so are brothels.
The largest Bangladeshi brothel and the largest bordello in the world, Daulatdia, has more than 1,300 sex workers and services more than 3,000 men daily. It is one of the 20 officially sanctioned brothels in Bangladesh, which opened around 1988, although it had unofficially been operating for decades prior to its legality.
While the average age of consent for new sex workers in Daulatdia is 14, many are younger and are sold into sex work for about £200 ($300), an amount they are then indebted to pay to their pimps, who are mostly older women. The cycle of work perpetuates, as boys born and raised in the brothels tend to become pimps and girls continue in their mothers’ profession.
Journalist Tania Rashid’s latest documentary production with Vice News, “Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh,“ gives appalling insight into Daulatdia’s daily happenings. In conversation with Rashid, she reveals how she chose to embark on an often precarious path to uncover injustice.
Malana, an isolated hill top village in the Kullu valley of the Himalayan ranges is famous for its local hashish with high oil content. Malana was inaccessible until recently because of its forbidding terrain and a belief system that prohibited interaction with outsiders. Their form of self governance traditionally resisted any interference from the Indian government. Guided by the ancient rules laid by their local deity, Malana follows one of the oldest forms of democracy in the world. Cannabis grows freely in large swathes of region around Malana.
Published in “HOMEGROWN“: Young India’s Route To Their Roots And Beyond. We are an Urban Youth Lifestyle Media Company: Online Publication + Creative Lab
China International Press Photo Contest is an international photography competition organized by the Chine Nouvelle agency and the Chinese Society of Photojournalists for the 11th consecutive year.
Photographers from 57 countries submitted a total of 25,000 pictures. The CHIPP jury met from March 19th to 23rd, over the course of three 12-hours days, they pored over 7,500 photographs in eight categories.
John Moore for Getty Images was awarded “Picture Of The Year” (Ebola Overwhelms Liberian Capital).
